In the past year, more than 26,000 people have been pulled off the road because they were driving drunk. 3,500 of them had to see a psychiatrist to find out if they had an alcohol disorder.
Who needs to see a psychiatrist?
- First-time driver: arrested with an alcohol level of 570 µg/l (1.3 ‰) or more.
- Experienced driver: arrested with an alcohol level of 785 µg/l (1.8‰) or more.
- First-time driver: at least 3 times in the last 5 years, of which at least 1 time with a blood alcohol level of 88 µg/l (0.2‰) or more. Or at least 1 time refusal to cooperate with an alcohol check.
- Experienced driver, stopped with alcohol at least 3 times in the last 5 years, of which at least 1 time with a level above 220 µg/l (0.5‰). Or at least 1 time refusal to cooperate with an alcohol check.
You must then agree to a physical, psychiatric and blood test. These tests determine whether you are an alcoholic and whether you will get your driving licence back or not. The CBR alcohol test is controversial. Over 80% of the cases are labelled as alcoholics.
Rikkie is one of many examples. He was stopped for drinking too much, lost his driving licence but encountered all sorts of problems with the inspection. "You just get nailed to the cross", says Rikkie. He is having his test taken for the third time now; the first two times he was rejected. "Rightly so, I had to hand in my driving licence. With your stupid head you think you can drive, but when you kill a child you never forgive yourself again."
After his arrest he immediately stops drinking and applies for a retest. But sometimes there can also be other causes, such as excessively high liver values. Bodybuilders and people taking medication suffer from this. High liver values are therefore not always related to alcohol use. CBR's psychiatrists do not always take this into account.
Lawyers encounter people every day who say that their examination was not properly conducted or that they were not properly diagnosed. The number of people labeled as alcoholics is too high. They are rejected on the grounds of arrest alone. For example, they say, ''You have a limited sense of responsibility.'' Why? "You were stopped under the influence of alcohol. You knew that it was not allowed and yet you started driving, so your sense of responsibility is limited.'' In this way, you can censure anyone, no matter what.
CBR often uses the diagnosis 'alcohol abuse in the broad sense'. This term was coined by CBR and the examining psychiatrists and does not exist in medical circles. It is totally implausible that 80% of the cases have an alcohol problem.
An alcohol use disorder according to the manual of psychiatry (DSM5), are not obtained. Someone does not meet the conditions for being an alcoholic, but CBR does give that stamp.
It is recommended that you cooperate with the investigation, otherwise you will not get your license back anyway. But pay attention to what you say, because it can easily be misinterpreted. In addition, you have the right to inspect the report, which means that the psychiatrist must send it to you first. If there are things in the report that are not correct, you should mention them immediately. If the report is not well-founded, go against it and if necessary, call a lawyer. It is also good to have your blood values mapped out, so you know what they are and how you should interpret them.
